Police say man pushed girlfriend on train tracks

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Christopher Norton of Naugatuck is handcuffed at the Waterbury train station after police said he allegedly pushed his girlfriend onto train tracks Thursday. –RA ARCHIVE
Christopher Norton of Naugatuck is handcuffed at the Waterbury train station after police said he allegedly pushed his girlfriend onto train tracks Thursday. –RA ARCHIVE

WATERBURY — A Naugatuck woman suffered a large cut to her head after being pushed from the city’s train platform onto the tracks below around 4:45 p.m. Thursday.

A Metro-North commuter train heading to Waterbury was halted while rescue workers placed the woman on a stretcher and loaded her into an ambulance. The man who police say pushed her, 39-year-old Christopher Norton of Naugatuck, was handcuffed by police and loaded into a van. He has been charged with assault, breach of peace and reckless endangerment, police say.

Acting Deputy Police Chief Christopher Corbett said the pair are boyfriend and girlfriend. They had been drinking beer together on the platform while waiting for the train to Naugatuck, Corbett said. Officers say both appeared intoxicated, Corbett said.

Emergency workers responded quickly to the 911 report, with five police vehicles arriving in less than one minute, followed shortly by an ambulance and two fire engines.

Bystanders said the man was acting erratic and attempting to start fights with others waiting on the platform.

Kenny Hurlburt of Waterbury said the assailant yelled at him, demanding to know the location of a relative. Hurlburt said he’d never met the man.

“I don’t know what he’s saying, he’s drunk,” Hurlburt said.

A short time later, Hurlburt said he saw the man and woman arguing. Then the man pushed the woman onto the track, he said.

Hurlburt and Michael Barr, of Waterbury, said Norton kept trying to approach the woman on the tracks, now using kinder words. The pair say they hopped down and tried to keep him away until police arrived.

It’s about a 5-foot drop from the concrete platform to the tracks.

Corbett said the victim suffered a large cut to her head, but did not suffer serious injuries. She was taken to Waterbury Hospital.